A Day At York Christmas Market

on -
December 02, 2016

If you live in the North East, it's pretty much an unwritten rule that you have to visit York at Christmas. They have the most amazing Christmas market that could definitely rival some of the markets in larger cities. It's just so magical and there's so much to see! I've been every year for as long as I can remember, and this year is no different. I booked train tickets for myself and J to spend the day there and the both of us eagerly waited for the day to arrive.

As you can see, it was a little bit of a gloomy day, but that wasn't going to stop us. We hopped on to our train, which was early, and found ourselves two table seats. This was perfect as we'd packed a breakfast of fruit and a peppermint hot chocolate cupcake each as a little treat. We pulled into York without any delays and we headed into the city - of course, stopping to take a picture of the river along the way. It's a must!

As we went on a Monday, the streets were pretty quiet which is what we were hoping for. If you've ever been to York at Christmas on the weekend, you'll know how scary it is. People. EVERYWHERE. But because it was quiet, we didn't feel like we had to rush around to get to places or beat the queues. So we had a little stroll and a chat about our plan for the day, then headed to the market.

You really can't go to a Christmas market without getting a mulled wine, can you? Either that or a Bailey's hot chocolate *drooooool*! There were so many gorgeous little stalls to look at in traditional wooden huts, and I bought a few Christmas presents. I was also so tempted by these chocolate kisses - a marshmallow centre covered in chocolate and decorated to perfection. Just looking at the photo now is making me hungry! But instead of buying all the chocolate kisses and having those for lunch, we had a kasewurst each with fried onions. There's definitely something about having German food at a Christmas market, isn't there?

After we'd had a good look at the market and scoped out any Christmas presents we wanted to buy, we headed off to wander around the shops. I knew I wanted to come back to the market at night, because that's when it's most beautiful. But I desperately needed to do some Christmas shopping, because I'd been putting off for so long. Lists in hand, we went on our way.

We obviously had to visit the Minster as the sun was setting!

As night-time came, we headed back to the market so that we could take in all the lights and the atmosphere. With all the added Christmas music, smells and chattering, it was really magical.

After a day of being on our feet, we went to the nearest place for tea, which was Pizza Hut. I wasn't complaining because I loooove pizza, and I was ready to throw all my bags down and have a seat. We tucked into our pizza and then set off back to the train station. Our waitress was absolutely amazing, so we thanked her over and over for her fab service. Seriously, she was just great!

We had such a great day out, but we were both ready for bed as we pulled back into Middlesbrough train station. As we've both been quite snowed under with work recently, we were so grateful to have the day off together and to spend it in a city that we love so much. If you're thinking about having a trip to York this season, definitely do!

The Northernist is the ramblings of a twenty-something girl from up North. Fuelled by her love for writing, Olivia created this space on the web to chat about all the things she's passionate about, share recipes and speak to like-minded people. Expect more eyeshadows than anyone could ever need, an overflowing bookshelf and just a sprinkle of fairy dust.